Former GCC football standout excelling at next level

The following are updates on local athletes at the collegiate level.

Patrick Donahue (Glendale Community College, 2010), senior, Southern Oregon football: With Southern Oregon putting up gaudy numbers on a weekly basis, it has done so with the help of several former Vaqueros.

Southern Oregon throttled Eastern Oregon, 63-35, on Saturday, with Donahue hauling in a fourth-quarter score. Donahue recorded a game-high eight grabs for 143 yards.

The victory put the Raiders at 7-2 and into Saturday’s showdown with Montana Tech. Southern Oregon would gain a share of the Frontier Conference title with a victory.

On the season, Donahue leads the Raiders with 78 catches and he’s gained 1,147 yards, averaging 14.7 per catch and 127.4 a game. He’s hauled in six touchdown passes. In addition, he’s the team’s leading kickoff returner, totaling 544 yards and a 22.7 average per return on 24 returns.

Donahue isn’t the only former local faring well at Southern Oregon.

Clay Sierra out of Crescenta Valley High is a redshirt freshman, who, as a 6-foot-5 tight end, has hauled in 20 receptions for 285 yards and five touchdowns — including one on Saturday. On Oct. 6 against Eastern Oregon, he had five catches for 118 yards and a touchdown of 85 yards.

Former GCC standout Kalii Robinson, a linebacker, leads Southern Oregon’s defense with 68 tackles, 52 solos, 32 assists and seven tackles for a loss. Joe Wiggan, a former All-Area Football Player of the Year before moving on to GCC, has played in five games with 131 yards rushing in 30 carries and one touchdown.

Alyssa Selve (Glendale Community College, 2012) junior, Adams State University cross-country: A former standout for the Vaqueros’ state cross-country championship team, Selve is now an all-region selection after her performance as a part of the Grizzlies’ title-winning run at the NCAA Division II South Central Regional Cross Country Championships on Nov. 3.

The Grizzlies won the race in Denver with 28 points to second-place Western State’s 49.

Selve was the Grizzlies’ fourth finisher, taking eighth overall in 22 minutes 30 seconds on the 6,000-kilometer course.

Selve and Co. are now headed to the NCAA Division II National Championships on Nov. 17 at Missouri Southern State.

Natalie Zeenni (Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy, 2011) sophomore, Long Beach State women’s soccer: The transfer and two-time former All-Area Girls’ Soccer Player of the Year is aiding mightily as the 49ers are making an NCAA Tournament push.

Long Beach will play its NCAA opener at Santa Clara on Saturday. Entering the tournament, Long Beach is 12-7 after a 5-4 mark in the Big West Conference.

Zeenni, the 2011 News-Press Girls’ Athlete of the Year, has started the last seven games at defender and in the last five, Long Beach is 3-2, with both losses having come in overtime as the defense gave up a combined two goals. The other three games were shutout wins.

Zeenni has played in 16 matches, starting eight. She’s tallied one goal on three shots.

Alyssa Conti (Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy, 2011) sophomore, John Hopkins women’s soccer: Conti, who was pivotal in Flintridge Sacred Heart’s 2011 run to a CIF Southern Section Division I championship, is now helping Hopkins to a postseason run.

Conti and Hopkins open up NCAA Division III Tournament play Saturday in Baltimore against Lancaster Bible.

Hopkins is currently 15-4-1 and went 9-1 in the Centennial Conference, having won seven of its last eight.

Conti has played in 13 games, starting 10, and has played in two straight games. Conti has tallied a pair of assists on the season. She made her first career start against Skidmore on Aug. 31 in the team’s season opener and she garnered her first-ever collegiate game-winning assist against Washington College on Sept. 15.

Sabrina Hatzer (Crescenta Valley, 2012) L.A. Valley College water polo freshman: It didn’t take long for Hatzer to prove herself in junior college waters.

Under coach Pete Loporchio, who coached Hatzer and Crescenta Valley before moving on to Valley this season, the Monarchs went 18-9 overall and finished third in the Western State Conference thanks in large part to Hatzer, the 2012 News-Press Girls’ Athlete of the Year.

Hatzer led the state with an amazing 136 goals, but also led her team with 78 steals and 44 assists.

Despite her eye-spinning numbers, she wasn’t the only local product that paid dividends for Loporchio.

Glendale High graduate Marquita Lopez Engelman notched 242 saves in goal for the Monarchs, while CV product Nayiri Kechichian had 83 goals, 30 steals and 26 assists. Another former Glendale player, Jacqueline Jones, added 30 goals, 29 assists and 21 steals. In addition, Jennifer Wagner (Crescenta Valley) had 10 goals, 20 assists and 20 steals. All five locals are only freshmen.

Shelby Gregg (Crescenta Valley, 2011) Pasadena City College water polo sophomore: Gregg left her mark with the Lancers, playing her final game on Nov. 3 and establishing a new single-season saves record.

In a 7-5 overtime win in the fifth-place match of the South Coast Conference Tournament, Gregg tied the previous season record of 277 in regulation and then made two more saves in overtime to finish with a record total of 279.

She broke a record set by Hannah Hogue in 2009. Hogue still owns the career mark with 526, while Gregg finished her career with a second-best 470. Gregg, who had a 19-save match this season, also finished with 28 steals.

Also on PCC, Milene Minassians, a Glendale High product, had 38 goals, including two in the finale, 38 steals and nine assists, while CV product Taylor Guidera had five goals and an assist to go with six steals.

PCC ended its season with an 11-17 record, going 4-6 in conference.